The Great Philadelphia Ink-off, 1737

[AAAndrew]

I would have put this in the Ink Comparisons forum, but I doubt any of these inks are commercially available. 

 

Someone trying out the various inks available to them in 1737 Philadelphia. Some things just never change. 

 

My favorite is the "Ink of a very different sort"

 

[goodpens]

This is great. 
Thanks for sharing. 

[JakobS]

Assuming all are Iron Gall, three look pretty stable (Ben Franklin’s(old) ink, Brientnal’s, and Persian(which looks the most stable), and three look less stable(Ink of a Very Different Sort, Japan Ink(least stable), and Ben Franklin’s new ink) based on their classic browning, and in the Japan’s ink case, the “ burning” into the paper look, that indicates an unstable creation of acids and peroxides. 

[inkstainedruth]

That's pretty cool, AAAndrew -- you always find the most interesting things to share!

I think my favorite is the Persian Ink.  Of course, now I'm wondering how one would go about finding out more information about the different inks and their manufacturers.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AAAndrew]

A couple have names. They could be looked up. The ink of a different sort would be a bit more difficult. 🙂

 

I find it interesting that Ben Franklin's New Ink says "Pale when first write" which indicates that it was an iron gall with no real color added. 

[khalameet]

With the name "persian" I immediately think pigmented. Wasn't ink from the eastern lands often carbon-based?

[JakobS]

From the link found here, the someone who wrote this was Ben Franklin himself, and the link cites these as all iron gall inks. 

 

As far as the Persian ink goes, it was made in England, and has a funny story attached to it's maker, The Great Pudding Robbery of 1718. 

[inkstainedruth]

Wow!  What a great story,JakobS!  That's hilarious!  And thanks for posting it and also more details about the book with the ink tests in it.  

I love this site -- I learn all sorts of cool stuff!

A number of years ago my husband and I went up to a French and Indian War demo in the Cook Forest area of NW PA.  While we were there, there as an "in persona" lecture from a guy dressed up as Benjamin  Franklin, answering audience questions and also playing the harmonium (which had been an invention of the real Franklin -- it's a take on the idea of running your finger around the edge of a glass with water in it to get sound).  We talked some to the guy afterwards and he said he's very nervous about breaking any of the bowls on the harmonium -- the guy who did the glassblowing for it took about 3 tries for every bowl, to get the harmonics right, and that glassblower had since died, and the guy was afraid the glassblower's sons would not be up to the task of getting the bowls to just the right frequency.  

During the lecture, someone in the audience asked him about the famous "kite" experiment.  And the guy basically said "Okay, the picture is actually completely wrong -- my son was 26 at the time!  And I was standing in the *doorway* of the house -- because it was a LIGHTNING STORM!" 

I don't know the guy's real name, but I think from what he said (he also did a hands on demo on how to brain-tan leather, although he admitted that he was sort of cheating in that he was using some sort of detergent that contained borax in it) he was from Western New York, in the area near the Seneca Nation Reservation.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth